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(N0 Model.)

J. D. ELLIS. Armor Plate.

N J5 Patented March 22,1881.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. ELLIS, OF SHEFFIELD, COUNTY OF YORK, ENGLAND.

ARMOR- PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 239,155, dated March 22, 1881.

Application filed February 10, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN DEVONSHIRE ELLIS, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and residing at Sheffield, county of York, England, iron-master, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Armor- Plates, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 3,629, dated 7th day of September, 1880,) of which the following is a specification.

My said invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of armor-plates composed of iron and steel united or combined, by means of which improvements armor-plates of this description are obtained sounder and more reliable than heretofore, and otherwise of a superior quality to plates produced by other methods.

In earryin g out my said invention a plate is first made of the usual quality of wrought-iron, and on the two edges and one end of the same is fixed a wrought-iron or steel frame of such width and thickness as may be required. On this frame is then placed a plate of steel previously prepared by hammering or rolling. or both, and the frame and steel plate are fastened onto the wrought-iron plate by bolts, or are otherwise fixed to the plate. The wroughtiron plate, with its frame and steel plate, is then placed in a plate-heating furnace and heated to a sufficient heat, after which it is withdrawn from the furnace and placed on its end, either upright or inclined, having the end which has no frame on upward. A suitable quantity of molten steel made by the Bessemer or other process is then poured between the wroughtiron and the steel plate, either by a runner connected with the bottom or from the top, thereby filling the inelosure and uniting the whole into a solid plate, which is allowed to cool, and is then reheated and rolled to thesize required.

By the above process is manufactured an' armor-plate with awrought-iron back and steel face, and since the face of it is formed of steel previously worked, a better quality is insured and a sounder and more reliable plate is obtained than can be produced by existing methods.

I11 order that my said invention may be fully understood, I shall now proceed more particu- (Xo model.) Patented in England September 7, 1880.

larly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings, the same letters of reference indicatingcorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents avertical section of a wroughtiron plate with a wrought-iron or steel frame and steel face-plate attached to it in readiness for the reception of molten steel to be introduced into the space formed between the two plates and the frame. Fig. 2 is a plan corresponding to Fig. 1, and Fig.3 is a perspective View, also illustrating the same arrangements.

A is a plate, made of the usual quality of armor-plate iron.

B is a frame, made of wrought-iron or steel, fixed on the iron plate 011 two sides, a a, and one end, I). The height or depth and also the length and breadth of the frame B will be varied as required to suit the dimensions of the finished plate of combined iron and steel. 0 is a steel plate, made from an ingot either by the Bessemer, Siemens, or any other system, (of a suitable quality to resist shot,) and worked either by hammering or rolling, or both. It is fitted on the frame B by bolts passing through the frame Band screwed or otherwise fastened onto the wrought-iron plate A, thickness or distance pieces of steel being placed between the iron plate A and the steel plate 0 to keep them apart when in the fire.

\Vith reference to the mode of manufacturing the entire armor-plate, the iron portion thereof is made by the ordinary method of manufacturing wrought-iron armor-plates, and the bars forming the walls of the frame are made either of a similar quality of iron or of steel. The steel used for the plate 0, by preference, contains about eight-tenths of carbon and the samequantity of manganese. After the iron plate with the frame and worked-steel plate have been heated in the furnace to, say, 2,000 Fahrenheit, the same is drawn from the furnace and placed on its end, with the end I) having no frame on upward, and a sulficient quantity of molten steel of suitable quality to resist shot, as before mentioned, is then poured into the space, 0, between the iron plate A and the steel plate 0. The combined iron and steel plate is then allowed to cool and solidify, after which it is reheated in a furnace and reduced to the thickness required, either by forging, pressing, or rolling, or by any of these processes. If it is desired to run the molten steel into the space 0 from the bottom, the end piece, I), of the frame isdispensed with, the two sides a a only being used.

By manufacturing in the manner above described armor-plates of iron and steel in combination, the result is the production of a plate in which the steel is capable of presenting the greatest resistance to the penetration of shot, and the iron has the least liability to fracture or cracking, and the worked-steel face-plate, While presenting an extraordinary resistance to the shot, enables the plate to be bent when hot to any required angle without any cracks.

Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that although, in describing my said invention, I have found it necessary, for the sake ofclearness, to refer to certain well-know n modes of operation as being adopted in the course of manufacture of my improved compound armor-plate, yet I do not claim as forming any part of my said invention any of the said modes of operation, except when used in the manufacture of armor-plates, as hereinafter mentioned; but

What I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the invention, is

An armor-plate comprising a Wrought-iron plate, a frame of wrought iron or steel, a worked-steel plate, and a filling of steel east between said wrought-iron and steel plates within said frame, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses JOHN DEVONSHIRE ELLIS.

Witnesses:

JNO. GEO. ASH, N0. 1 Travis Place, Sheffield, Solicitors Clerk.

JOSEPH MAY, 36 Holland Road, Sheflield, Solicitors Clerk. 

